SINGING sister duo Sophie and Celeste Clabburn, also known as The Sunny Cowgirls, are set to sizzle at this year’s Whittlesea Country Music Festival.


The girls hail from a farm in Dunkeld in western Victoria, the place where they say their inspiration comes from.


“Growing up on a farm really was the basis, Dad was right into his country music so a lot of our inspiration is from him, we grew up listening to Slim Dusty and John Williamson, those old type of Australian heroes,” Sophie, 29, said.


“Writing about what we know is what we do and most of our audience lives in the country and can relate to what we write about so it works well.”


As for the name, she confesses she came up with it when she was 14 and Celeste was 10.


“The farm we grew up on was called Sunning Hill and that’s where it all started, we were only little girls when we came up with the name but it stuck, I’m almost 30 and I’m still called a sunny cowgirl.”


Sophie said the two used to perform a couple of free gigs a year which she admits were terrible.


“It wasn’t until we got a bit older and we heard about the Country Music College in Tamworth that we thought maybe we should write a bit more songs and go over and see what happens.”


The pair planned to go the Tamworth Country Music Festival while they were there, then work on a station up north, however fate dealt them a higher card.


“Adam Brand came in to talk to us and we gave him a copy of a CD that we’d made and he loved it so they signed us to his record company, it all happened very quickly.


“We never made it up north but we landed on our feet which is good.”


Aside from vocals, Sophie plays acoustic guitar, with Celeste, 25, on bass.


“We’re a four piece band, a couple of boys help us out with drums and guitar.”


The girls have just released a live DVD and CD and are currently working on their next album which is due for release mid-year.


They will be touring with Adam Brand after the Whittlesea Country Music Festival where they have performed several times.


“It’s always heaps of fun and we’re looking forward to getting back there, it’s a big line up this year and we always love going down to Victoria being our home state.”


The festival kicks off with a launch party on the Friday night at the Whittlesea Bowls Club.


Tickets are also available to the Victorian and National Country Music Awards on the Saturday night, where punters have the chance to mingle with country music stars.


For further information or for ticketing enquiries contact Leanne on 0419 391 143 or visit


www.whittleseacountrymusic


festival.com.au